CTech's Sunday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Interview | After launching services in 21 countries, Via founders come home to take on Israeli traffic jams. Israel’s notoriously congested roads sparked the idea that led the founders of carpooling firm Via to start the company. Now they’re planning to launch a pilot in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Read more

Via. Photo: Via

Volkswagen writes-off Gett investment, Der Spiegel reports. Volkswagen invested $300 million Gett in 2016 and participated in an $80 million round for Gett in June. Read more

Report: Rafael's drone detection system got Gatwick off-the-ground. London Gatwick, the country’s second-busiest airport, was closed for more than 36 hours on Wednesday and Thursday after drones were spotted flying over its airstrip. Read more

Interview | Cancer freeze-blasting company seeks to expand market foothold. Controlled by one of the founders of China-based web and mobile juggernaut Tencent, Tel Aviv-listed IceCure Medical is looking to connect with U.S. health insurers. Read more

Remote support for self-driving cars startup raises $3 million. Tel Aviv-based Ottopia develops software that allows a human operator to remotely assist a vehicle’s artificial intelligence system in making decisions in complex situations. Read more

Opinion | When Santa gives your little ones a personal digital spy. The increasing popularity of internet-connected interactive toys is a reminder that there are only two kinds of databases: those that have been hacked, and those that haven’t been hacked, yet. Read more

Interview | Economy, not just Iranian influence, drives Gulf-Israel relations, says advisor to Bahraini king. Rabbi Marc Schneier, Special Advisor to the King of Bahrain, estimates that in 2019 at least one Gulf state will establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Read more

Three Israeli companies ranked among top 100 global weapon sellers. According to data collected by SIPRI, a Stockholm-based research institute, the top 100 companies made $398 billion in arms sales in 2017. Read more